RECIPES: Recipe Details

Guido Burger

When I was a little girl, there was little better than Grandma Menconi's homemade lasagna and ravioli at Christmas time with our entire extended family. As families grow, people get married and have kids of their own - it gets busy. Holidays are often spent in various places, and Grandma doesn't have the same energy for making her homemade creations. This contest inspired me to take my favorite memories of Grandma's cooking and bring it in a creative way to my family.

Prepare a medium fire in a charcoal grill with a cover or preheat a gas grill to medium. To make marinara, heat olive oil and garlic in medium fire-proof saucepan on the grill rack. Heat until garlic is fragrant, but not browned. Add crushed tomatoes and simmer until reduced by half. Add sugar, basil and salt and stir to combine. Remove marinara from grill. To make patties, combine ground chuck, ground pork, chopped spinach, fresh garlic, Pecorino-Romano cheese, breadcrumbs, eggs, pepper and salt in a large bowl. Handling the meat as little as possible to avoid compacting it, mix well. Divide the mixture into 6 equal portions and form portions into patties to fit the size of the ciabatta rolls. When the grill is ready, brush the grill rack with the vegetable oil. Place the patties on the rack, cover and cook for 4 - 6 minutes. Flip patties, close cover and cook for 4 - 6 minutes. Flip patties, rotate 90 degrees, close cover and cook for 1 - 3 minutes. Flip patties and rotate 90 degrees. Top each patty with a slice of mozzarella cheese, close cover and cook for 1 - 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let rest while grilling the ciabatta rolls. Brush the cut sides of the ciabatta rolls with Colavita extra-virgin olive oil and place, cut side down, on the outer edgese of the rack to toast lightly. To assemble burgers, take bottom ciabatta, place a patty (mozzarella side up) and top with marinara sauce. Add ciabatta tops and serve.